


Outside

by TimmyJaybird



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, Multiverse, Threesome - M/M/M, Universe Crossing, this was supposed to be smut but then there were feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 17:20:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8541982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimmyJaybird/pseuds/TimmyJaybird
Summary: Jason accidentally crossed the multiverse, and lands himself in a world where he's still dead, and there's not one but two Roy Harpers. But with both Roys seeming broken in their own ways, Jason decides to let them see a glimpse of what his Roy has, if only to give them hope for a better tomorrow.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I usually don't get into the multiverse, if only to try and keep things from getting confusing. But I really wanted a Roy/Jason/Roy fic, and I _thought_ writing it in strictly the Young Justice world would take too much set up and such for what I wanted.
> 
> But now, having written this, I see it wouldn't have mattered, because I got too invested and took this beyond porn.
> 
> Also there was a lot of repitition of Hollywood Undead's "Outside" while writing this (it's on my JayRoy playlist)

Jason stumbled, reaching out and bracing his hand against the wall in front of him. He leaned his weight onto it, blinking rapidly as his head spun. The vertigo was hitting hard, making his knees feel weak and his stomach roll. It was taking what little concentration he had to keep up right and to keep his stomach contents intact.

 

He inhaled through his nose, sharp and fast, got the known stench of the city. Exhaust and dampness, puddles and oil and the few mingling sweet scents that Gotham turned into _decay_ at her worst. But he knew it, at least.

 

Carefully, he lifted his head, blinking again. His vision was righting itself, and he turned, looked down the long, lone alley he was in. Carefully, he straightened up, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose, to dull down the ache behind his eyes. He hadn’t… he hadn’t been _outside_ a moment ago. He’d been in the workshop, there had been Roy’s music thumping obnoxiously and endearingly in the background- the excited chatter between Roy and Tim as they picked at the technology Tim had _borrowed_ from the Justice League servers.

 

There was the sound, if he had gone halfway up the stairs, of Lian watching television.

 

He’d been getting ready to go out, for a few hours. He’d made the mistake of taking a glance at _whatever_ his husband and brother were working on- and then everything had been sharp and fast and the wind had gone from his lungs, and then he was _here_ , outside, breathless and dizzy and still a bit nauseous.

 

Jason rummaged around his pants, found his phone and pulled it out. He was in his gear, at least- but he lacked his helmet and mask, and what bloody good was _that_ . He clicked on Roy’s name, held it up- but instead of ringing, his phone beeped, before a recorded voice said, _the number you have dialed is out of the service area_.

 

He frowned. He was in _Gotham_ , how could Roy be out of service? He glanced at the phone, but he had no bars himself- strange. Scowling now, he shoved his phone into his pocket, was about to head into the streets to get his bearings, when he heard something. The distinct sound of feet on rooftops, the sound of wire being shot and pulled taut. Sounds he _knew_.

 

And this was Gotham, it _had_ to be family. Problem solved. He glanced around him, caught sight of the fire escape, and ran over. He grabbed it, hoisted himself up and took the stairs two at a time, level by level, until he was pulling himself up over the lip of the roof. He could see two figures, far off like shadows in the beginning of the evening light. Jason walked halfway across the roof, took in the gap between it and the next, before taking his steps back. A single deep breath and a roll of his neck, and he was running full force. He lurched himself forward, cleared the gap easily and landed in a half crouch, before he was running again, repeating with the same ease.

 

Scaling rooftops he could do in his sleep.

 

He landed on the last one, narrowing his eyes slightly behind his mask. The lenses helped with the fading light- but he still _swore_ he was wrong. Because… that was Roy. That was _Roy_ except… younger? His face had a slightly more youthful look- not all that much, as Jason was convinced Roy had stopped aging far too early, but still…

 

His hair was short, though. Jason hadn’t _ever_ seen Roy with short hair.

 

“What the fuck, Harper?” he yelled, and that had Roy pausing, turning to stare at him. “Did you try out some new tranq on me or something? And why are you on a damn roof?” He took a step closer, glancing Roy over- and his outfit was entirely _wrong_ . Blacks and reds, use, but far less than he usually wore- “And why in all hells did you cut your _hair_?”

 

Roy tensed, spreading his legs slightly to anchor himself. “Who are you?” Same voice, each letter and sound falling as it always did- but something here wasn’t right.

 

“Funny,” Jason said, “Did you leave Lian with Tim to do this?”

 

And suddenly Roy was _running_. He slammed himself into Jason, who fell back, sprawling out as Roy got his hands on his shoulders, pinning him down.

 

“How do you know that name?” His mask hid his eyes, but he stilled looked wild, like some sort of half rapid and mostly frightened animal. It was a look Jason hadn’t seen on Roy in a long, _long_ time.

 

“Like I don’t know my own daughter’s name?” Jason asked, still not tensing up, despite how strange this was. “This isn’t funny Roy. Cut it out.” He pushed, but Roy kept him pinned, barring his gritted teeth now. He looked about ready to bark another question, but another set of feet landed on the roof top, and suddenly there was a _second_ familiar face lookin down at Jason.

 

Except- it was the _same_ face. It was Roy, all over again. Roy with his mask and still a different outfit, but god- not _right_. Roy with hair buzzed so short it was barely there- but what stood out the most was his right arm- all gorgeous, black metal.

 

“Okay, what the _fuck_ ,” Jason said, and the Roy on top of him leaned back as the second crouched down.

 

“What’s this?” he asked, inclining his head- smiling in this cocky and gorgeous way that had always gotten to Jason. He swallowed thickly, as the Roy that was straddling his legs folded his arms.

 

“He didn’t give me a _name_. But he knows my daughter-”

 

“Our daughter,” Jason said, furrowing his brows. “And it’s _me_ . Jason.” Neither moved, and Jason huffed. “ _Jason Todd_.”

 

The one with the arm didn’t react, but the one in his lap fell back at that, mouth falling open. “Impossible,” he said, looking Jason up and down.

 

“What is?” The other Roy- the other _other_ Roy? Jason didn’t know, he just knew he kept glancing at the arm and wondering what in all the hells as happening.

 

“Jason Todd is dead.” Jason glanced between them, and the seemingly unshocked Roy stood up, rubbing a hand up over his cropped hair.

 

“Hmm. Explains why I haven’t heard about the kid in a while. It must have happened after _you_ were created.” He looked Jason over. “‘Cept this doesn’t look like a _kid_.”

 

“I’m not a kid, _idiota_.” Jason pushed himself up, standing to his full height. “But I am very confused.”

 

“That makes two of us.” The Roy, still sprawled on the ground. He stood up, dusting himself off, glancing between Jason and the other Roy. The one that looked much more… unhinged. Something in his smile. “I think we need to… talk.”

 

Jason wasn’t so damn sure he’d ever loved hearing that sentence so much in his entire life.

 

*

 

“So let me get this straight,” Jason said, leaning forward and folding his hand. They nearly bumped the coffee table in front of him. “You’re a _clone_ and angry you over there is the original- and I’m still _dead_?”

 

“Yeah.” Roy was in a plush chair, off to the side. His mask and weapons discarded, he was tipping his head back, looking like his head was pounding. “You’ve been dead since… god, for a long time. It still haunts Bats, you can tell. Dick too, and Tim’s… living in your shadow.”

 

Jason hummed, and he could hear the other Roy, the one with the slightly crazy smile that seemed like he was seething, beneath his skin. He was pacing, back and forth, over and over again. He didn’t seem in place, here.

 

“And how’s Damian take that?”

 

“Who?”

 

Jason’s eyes widened, and he reached up, pulling his mask off, tossing it onto the table. He covered his face with his hands, shaking his head. So this world didn’t even _have_ Damian yet… and he was dead. He’d never come back- or at least, not yet. Not to their knowledge.

 

Jason was convinced, this wasn’t his home. He _knew_ there were other universes out there, but god it was mind boggling and headache inducing to try to think on them, too hard. But it was making sense. Roy and Tim had been tinkering with _Boomtube_ schematics, and Jason had of course touched the wrong part of the contraption at the wrong time.

 

And now, he had no idea what world he _was_ on.

 

The pacing behind Jason stopped, and suddenly there were hands on the back of the couch. He could feel the angry Roy looming forward, even if he didn’t touch. “And you want us to believe you’re some dead Robin come back to life? That you come from some other _universe_?”

 

“Yeah.” It came out rather quiet, as Jason tried to race through the options of getting _home_ . Which ere currently at zero, until _his_ Roy and _his_ Tim configured their little toy and found him. He had no idea how long that could take…

 

“And you’re…”

 

“ _With_ you?” Jason lifted his head, looked at the Roy across from him, before leaning back, looking up at the other. “Yeah. We’re _married_ . Have been for two years now. Lian is _eight_ , we’ve been together four years.” The Roy above ihm looked at the other, who slumped forward, heaving a sigh.

 

“This makes no sense.”

 

“I told you, you- or, _my Roy_ , was playing with Boomtube tech. Got it with Tim. It must have gone off and grabbed me, and thrown me here.” The Roy above him pushed off the couch again, walking around it, and suddenly he had his hands on Jason’s shoulders, pinning him back. Jason didn’t fight, simply stared into his eyes, watched his lips quirk into a smirk.

 

Whatever Jason expected from that, however, was not what he got. Not when this Roy leaned in, and suddenly his mouth was pressed right to Jason’s. His gray eyes went wide, his breath lost in a kiss that seemed too forced but still made his stomach go tight, out of instinct. Because he _tasted_ like Jason’s Roy- and yet not. Because his mouth was familiar but not exact- lips slightly chapped where Roy’s were so damn soft now, but the _exact_ same shape.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” The other Roy, pushing himself up from his chair now. This one- the original, if Jason was thinking correctly- pulled back, still staring at Jason, before he reached up, ripped his mask off and tossed it aside.

 

“Testing him,” he said, even as he kept Jason pinned. “Figured if he was telling the truth he wouldn’t turn me down.”

 

“This is weird.” Roy reached up, shook his head. “God, I should call the League. Call Dick.”

 

“And what, the little vagabond team of _rascals_ he was leading that _you_ ran with?” Roy the first- Jason was doing his best to come up with little _titles_ for them, in his head- was sneering now. “Those kids can’t help us here. You heard this guy- he’d stuck until his Roy comes to save him.” He turned back, and those eyes were that of a demon, something insidious and hungry and all-devouring.

 

Jason was hard and he was a little _scared_ , for the first time in a while.

 

“We should show him a good time.”

 

The standing Roy stared with wide, green eyes. Eyes that Jason knew and yet _didn’t_. “That’s…”

 

“Enticing?” The other Roy straightened up, turned to face his counterpart. “You can’t look me in the eye and tell me there isn’t something about this guy?” He waited, folding his arms, and the second Roy, the clone- that was a wild thought to Jason- glanced away.

 

Jason should have put an end to this, he _should have and he knew it_ \- but that kiss had his blood rushing away from his damn brain. And… this was Roy… somehow. _Someway_.

 

Suddenly the clone was pushing past the original. Jason stood up, not flinching when Roy grabbed him by his jacket. He didn’t pull him in, but held him steady as he leaned close, pressed his mouth almost timidly to Jason’s. Like he was feeling him out, trying to decipher his entire being in one careful kiss.

 

Jason reached up, got one hand in his short hair, the other going for the curve of his waist. The moment he had his hand there, he was given a tiny groan, one he drank down as he had countless times, over the years. And this Roy, he seemed to melt then, to press up tight to Jason and kiss him with _desire_ then, with a passion that seemed like it had been drowned and suffocated, for far too long. When Roy pulled back, Jason made a point to nip at his bottom lip, pinch it between his teeth and tug.

 

He watched the clone’s eyes roll, and gripped his waist tighter. When he let go, he considered dropping his head, getting his mouth on this guy’s pulse- but the other Roy was grabbing his arm, pulling him away and dragging him across the small apartment. Jason didn’t fight it, but didn’t let go of the Roy he had been kissing, forming a little train as the door to a dark bedroom was kicked open, and Jason was shoved towards the bed.

 

“We’re doing this _together_ ?” the clone asked, pausing at the original Roy nearly ripped his shirt up off over his head. Jason stared up, seeing scars he didn’t _know_ , but freckles he did.

 

“Why not?” he shrugged as he asked, before sliding between Jason’s legs, raking his hands back through his dark curls and tugging. Jason craned his neck back, exposing his throat, and was flashed a toothy grin. “It’ll make one _hell_ of a story for this guy, when he goes home.”

 

Still, the other was hesitating. But his eyes were watching as the original Roy kissed Jason. Jason didn’t pull away as his metal fingers moved down to cup the back of his neck. He didn’t doubt he could crush his bones, if he desired- and yet, even though this wasn’t his Roy, Jason didn’t feel threatened.

 

He was sure there wasn’t a world where Roy would ever hurt him.

 

He ran his hands up the man’s chest, before dragging his blunt nails back down. Roy hissed into his mouth, shoved Jason back, and watched him fall onto the bed. Jason stared up at him, watched him incline his head, and god, there was something so fierce and untamed about him-

 

It went right to Jason’s cock and he didn’t even _care_.

 

“At least come look at him.” Roy looked over at his clone, jerking his head slightly towards Jason. There was hesitation, and then he was walking over, standing right against the bed and staring down.

 

And Jason didn’t _mean_ to- but he knew he was looking at him, like he did his Roy, when he _wanted_. With hazy eyes and a part to his gorgeous mouth, with heat and need. Roy’ mouth parted slightly, and the original was leaning up against him, hooking an arm around him and working open his shirt.

 

“Tell me you don’t want him.” It was whispered, all too easily, into the clone’s ear. But it wa never denied, as his shirt was opened and then guided off- and again, more scars Jason didn’t know, but freckles he had memorized by the tips of his fingertips and tongue. “Tell me and you can leave and _I’ll_ take him.”

 

The second Roy shook his head, and the clone was leaning over, flicking the buckle at one of Jason’s thigh holsters.

 

“Lose all of this.” It was a command in a voice that seemed so unlike the Roy Jason knew- but he sat up, complying anyway. Shrugged his jacket off and tossed it, before his armor followed, piece by piece, and then the shirt beneath. When he stood up, both Roys took a step back, and Jason bent over, began unlacing his boots.

 

“Don’t leave me the odd man out,” he said, glancing up. “I think skin for skin is fair.” He straightened up, flicked open the belt at his waist, and both Roys began to work on their remaining clothing. Jason forced himself to focus on his own task, dropping holsters and everything on the floor, trying to keep his pulse calm. This felt right and yet so _wrong_ in such a delicious way- and it wasn’t nerves, he knew, that had his heart racing.

 

It was all adrenaline.

 

He straightened up when he finally had everything off, stepping out of the pool of clothing, and feeling _fearless_ , because he’d been naked in front of Roy for years now. It didn’t matter that these two, they weren’t his Roy- because he wanted to believe, in his core, that they would react the same.

 

And when they finally got their eyes on him, they _did_ . The original’s eyes flashed dark, like he wanted to devour Jason whole, and the other seemed more awestruck- both expressions Jason had gotten from his husband, over the years. He smirked, leaning his head back slightly. “You know, my Roy is a _god_ in my bed,” he taunted, “I wonder if that rule applies here, as well.”

 

“Not your bed.” The original, as he folded his arms, lifting his chin. “Maybe impress _us_.”

 

Jason liked this. He _liked_ this sort of power. Keeping his smirk, he settled down on his knees, between the bed and the two of them- but instead of going for that cocky, arrogant _dog_ of a man- because there was something so canine about the glint in his eyes, so beastly- Jason went for the other. His hands gripped the clone’s hips, forcing him that final step closer, and before this Roy could speak, he was dragging his tongue up along the underside of his cock. The taste of his skin was the same, the heat something Jason knew from so many intimate moments. He sighed, eyes falling half shut, as the man shuddered, reached down and threaded his fingers into Jason’s hair, as he swirled his tongue around his cockhead. His pre-cum tasted the same, too. The same salt, made Jason thirsty in the same damn way.

 

“Fuck.” It came was a breathy exhale, and the hips Jason was holding canted forward when he sucked on the head, gently. An inch of flesh slipped further into his mouth, and Jason went with it, easing down and taking almost all of Roy’s cock in. The man shivered, made this glorious keening sound, and Jason hummed, moving his mouth and head slowly. The other Roy was watching, Jason could feel those eyes burning into his head, setting his mind ablaze. He opened his eyes, glanced over at him, made a point of letting the clone Roy’s cock fall from his lips with a wet pop.

 

Without a word, Jason leaned over, let go of the other Roy’s hip with one hand, so he could grasp the base of the original’s cock. He lapped at the head, his own cock twitching over the look he was being given, before he mouthed half way down his shaft, slowly.

 

Jason could hear panting, from the other Roy. He was working back the original’s cock, when he was suddenly bending over, grabbing Jason by his shoulders and pulling him away. He shoved him onto the bed, crawling onto it- and before Jason could get a word in, his mouth was on his cock. Jason gasped, thrusting up, arching, and he heard chuckling, from the original.

 

“It’s like he’s in your bones, right?” It was strange, almost eerie, how he said it. But Jason didn’t argue, because this felt more and more like what he was used to- Roy’s hands on his hips as his mouth moved quickly. Jason missed the sound of a drawer opening, but not the feeling of the bed dipping, as the original climbed on. He was still staring up at the dark ceiling, losing himself in Roy’s mouth, when the original was gripping his thigh, and suddenly his hand was squirming beneath Jason’s ass, slick fingers pressing right to his hole.

 

Jason gave a surprised yelp, two sliding in, and the other Roy pulled off his cock, exhaling in rushed breaths against it, before looking at the original, who was smirking. He shoved his fingers deeper, and while Jason wasn’t thrilled about the position, it still felt _good_ , and his body knew how to relax around Roy.

 

“I’m going to fuck him,” the original said. “I want to know what drove me so wild in some other lifetime.”

 

Jason wanted to correct _world_ or _universe_ \- but maybe that wasn’t right, either. Maybe it was a strange conglomerate of all three. After all, these two were younger than his Roy- it was like not only a different world, but a whole new time plane for him, as well.

 

His time just hadn’t come yet.

 

Jason turned his head, looked at the original. His metal fingers were curling on Jason’s thigh, and Jason wondered if that arm could hold him up completely. WOndered what it’d be like to be pinned by it. It wasn’t _cold_ , and it felt so much like the ghost of his Roy’s flesh, in ways Jason couldn’t explain.

 

Jason forced himself to reach down, to grasp at the original’s flesh wrist, pushing his hand away. His fingers slipped out, and Jason sat up. “There are better positions,” he offered. The original stared at him, before glancing away- and Jason got the idea he didn’t have as much experience as his attempt at confidence was trying to prove. He turned, pushing up onto his hands and knees, offering his ass like he would to his Roy, any night the man asked. “This way,” he offered, looking at the other, the clone- the sweet and sad one- “I can have you too.”

 

He watched the second Roy groan, pushing himself up on his knees. Jason reached for him with one hand, held himself steady with a grip on the man’s hip as he leaned in, sucked his cockhead back into his mouth. He exhaled through his nose, gave a little sigh, before he felt the other Roy’s hands. His metal fingers curled into the meat of his ass, tugging, before his slick fingers were back, working rough and quickly into his body. Jason groaned, the sound muffled as he slipped lower onto Roy’s cock. The second Roy, the clone, he reached down, got his hands in Jason’s hair.

 

“Could fall in love with you,” he mumbled, and his fingers were soft, like Roy’s. Soft in their strokes, fleeting against his scalp. Jason hummed, lulled into comfort because it was so like his husband- but then there was the sharp thrust of those fingers in him, the way they twisted-

 

And yet, that was like Roy, too. Like he had been split into two, the sweetness and sadness and affection left in one half, the other the rage and the drive and yet the _fear_.

 

Jason pushed back on those fingers, almost found a rhythm when they were pulled out of him. He whined, but refused to take his mouth from Roy’s cock. Still, when he felt the original’s wet cockhead rubbing against his hole, Jason groaned, spreading his knees further apart, trying to lift his ass more. It was how he _always_ reacted when Roy fucked him- how he wanted and wanted and would have bent himself in half if it meant he got that ever-great filled sensation.

 

Roy eased into him, cursing beneath his breath. His thrust was slow, until he was nestled tight up to Jason’s ass. Even then, he didn’t move, just ran his hands along Jason’s back, feeling scars. Jason shivered, his mind reeling over the contrast of soft yet calloused flesh, and unyielding metal.

 

“Your scars are beautiful.” It was quiet, under his breath, sounding nothing at all like this Roy that Jason was quickly learning. More like the one in his mouth, the one still petting his hair sweetly. Jason closed his eyes sucking harder, loving the sound of Roy groaning- simultaneously, feeling the original finally easing back, so slowly.

 

His next thrust was back to the anger and energy Jason had begun to truly see in him. Jason’s mouth opened wide enough for him to cry out, and the clone’s cock slid further over his tongue. Jason might have choked, if he hadn’t spent the past four years learning how to swallow _his_ Roy’s cock down without trouble. Still, he shook, his hand still supporting him grasping at the blanket beneath him. Roy’s thrusts were rough, but it was perfect, his cock a shape Jason _knew_. His prostate ached in this perfect way, had Jason pushing himself back, fucking himself on Roy’s cock, while he sucked at the other’s.

 

“Jason,” the Roy in front of him moaned, and Jason felt the tell-tale heavy twitch of his cock. He’d smile if he could- but instead simply moved faster, tongue still rubbing along the underside of his cock. Behind him, the original was panting, and Jason felt his own cock throbbing, dripping down onto the bed. He was damn close and he could hear static, growing in his skull as his body hummed.

 

When clone came, it was with a tug of Jason’s hair and a loud, wordless yell. Jason paused, sucking and swallowing down everything he was given, as the Roy behind him continued to fuck him mercilessly. When Jason pulled off, his mouth full open, pearly ropes stretched between his lips as his breath escaped.

 

“Shit, you’re going to make him come.” The clone doubled over, tugging Jason’s head up, and crashed their mouths together. His tongue pressed into his mouth, licked his own cum from Jason’s tongue, and Jason shivered over that. He held onto the bed with both hands, forcefully pushing his ass back- and then when he felt the original’s right hand dragging those smooth, metal fingertips down his back, he was whimpering into the clone’s mouth. Full body trembles wracked him as he came, spurting down onto the blanket as his cock throbbed and throbbed and _throbbed_ , his body going so tight the Roy behind him doubled over. His thrusts were short and shallow, but it was enough to keep Jason’s orgasm going, and Jason’s body clutching him so tightly was enough to finally make him come. He growled, the sound ending in something almost _meek_ like a whimper, as he stilled, keeping Jason’s ass nestled right back into his pelvis.

 

Jason panted, trying to suck in breaths around the tongue probing his mouth. He was drowning in the hands holding onto his waist now, in his hair- the fact that Roy’s mouth was on his but _also_ on the back of his shoulder as the original doubled over.

 

Suffocating because everything was _Roy_ in ways Jason had never, ever dreamed.

 

*

 

Jason didn’t completely remember folding up, between the two Roys. But when he came to, it was to the feeling that there had been heat, against his back. The small space behind him was still warm, and he could hear footsteps, bare, padding across the old floorboards, and the gentle creak of the door. He sighed, snuggled closer to the heat in front of him, and for a moment everything was as it should be- he was in bed with Roy, he was sleeping as he never had before…

 

But then it _wasn’t_ and he was opening his eyes, remembering. Because this was Roy, curled up beneath his chin, but not _his_ Roy. This Roy was younger, had different scars, had cut that gorgeous hair. This Roy was sad and sweet and ached but not with the same pain Jason knew his Roy had.

 

This Roy was, supposedly, not the _real_ Roy in this world.

 

“You think very loud,” Roy mumbled, lifting his head. He blinked away sleep, glancing over Jason’s shoulder, before dropping his head back down. “He’s gone?”

 

“I hear him walking around.” Roy nodded, and Jason watched him, cheek on the pillows. “You two don’t-”

 

“Get along? No. He’s… not thrilled I exist.” Roy shrugged, but it looked like that cut him, somewhere deep between the cracks of his bones. Cut right into his marrow. “It’s like having a part of you that wishes you were dead. That feels like you took everything from that half.” Jason was silent, and this Roy reached up, dragged his fingers along Jason’s shoulder. “Are you really married to him…”

 

Jason nodded. “I am. He’s- you’re a great man, where I’m from.” Jason felt those fingers, on his collarbone now. “You’ve had some problems but you’re stronger for them. You’re a good father.”

 

That had Roy smiling. “I don’t feel it,” he whispered. “Lian is mine. I don’t know how _he_ feels about that. But I think… he believes I stripped that from him too. That because my blood runs through someone else, I’m legitimate, and there’s no room for him.”

 

“How old is she?”

 

Roy was quiet, but when he spoke, he was _smiling_. “Nine months.” Jason stared, felt his heart seeming to still for a moment.

 

He’d never known Lian, when she was that small. She was nearly _four_ when he met her. He’d some pictures, but-

 

“You’re lucky,” Jason admitted, reaching up to gently grip Roy’s hand. He squeezed his fingers. “My little girl isn’t that little anymore. I never knew her that young. She was almost… almost four, when Roy and I really started teaming up.” He rubbed his thumb along the joints in Roy’s fingers, before pulling his hand to his mouth, kissing his fingertips. “How are you and Jade?”

 

Roy looked away, and it was the answer Jason knew, in his chest. Similar to how his Roy must have been, at that time. Not together, but dealing with those metal strings that pulled taut between them. Seeing each other in their daughter and coping with the ache it left in their chest.

 

“What is Jade like, to you? To your Roy?”

 

“Good, now. I’m sure what you’re going through is what mine did, too. But now Jade is… better. She just wants her little girl to be happy and safe. She and Roy are friendly.” Jason paused to chuckle. “She apparently likes me, now.”

 

Roy snorted, leaning forward and resting his forehead to Jason’s chest. “I wonder if you’ll exist for me.” It was soft, quiet and lost and hurt, and Jason got his arm around Roy. “I wonder if you’re alive, out there.”

 

“Trust me, hell doesn’t want me for that long.” He rubbed along his back, found a scar his Roy didn’t have and kept rubbing his fingers over it. “I’m somewhere, I’m sure. Your world is… different. The time’s not right.”

 

“You believe in that kind of thing?”

 

“Yeah, _now_ . I didn’t at first, when I was still a street kid. Then Bruce had me and I did. Then I died and was angry and _didn’t_ . And now… here I am again.” Roy lifted his head, and Jason kissed his forehead. He had the strange urge to keep himself wrapped up around this Roy, to soothe every hurt inside his body and mind. To _heal_ because seeing Roy hurt in anyway killed Jason, inside and out. “Someday you’ll have me.”

 

“Or he might.” Roy buried himself closer again, eyes falling shut. “After all, he’s the _real_ Roy. It’d make sense that you’d belong with him.”

 

Jason said nothing decided silence was the best answer, as he continued to rub Roy’s back, once again finding that new scar and trying to learn it.

 

*

 

Eventually, Jason pulled himself from the bed. He left Roy there, got himself half dressed, leaving his chest plate and most of his armor behind, and headed out of the small bedroom. He checked his phone, but it still read no service, which didn’t surprise him.

 

He found the other Roy, the original, sitting on the couch in the damn dark. Just sitting there, staring off like he was lost in his own mind.

 

“Scare a man like that,” Jason offered, folding his arms and standing at the opposite end of the couch. “What are you doing?”

 

“Thinking.”

 

“Mhm.” Jason walked around, sat on the couch, still a full cushion away. “About?”

 

Roy’s eyes glanced over at him. He was frowning, Jason could see. But it wasn’t in his eyes- those, those were something completely different. “You.”

 

Well, at least he was being honest.

 

“What about me?”

 

“Where you are.” Roy leaned back, reaching up to rub his hands over his face, back through that buzzed hair. “I remember you. But I know _he_ does too. He would have been around, when you died. A little before, too. But I think he has… some of my memories. I don’t know how.” Roy turned, facing away from Jason. “But I remember you. It’s weird to think that eager kid became _this_. That… I’m with you, in some weird place.”

 

“Trust me, the house isn’t that weird. The workshop is pretty neat, _la princesa_ loves it.” Roy turned his head quickly at that, and the faintest smile crossed his lips.

 

“I remember you spouting off in Spanish when you were little.” He chuckled, and it was sweeter than earlier. “You used to speak so _fast_.”

 

“You should see me mad. It got worse.” Another laugh, and Roy sat back up, turning to actually face Jason.

 

“What’s he like. Your Roy.” Jason could see the silent question- _is he like me or him_?

 

“He’s like you,” Jason admitted, “and him. The two of you, it’s like someone took my Roy, took his pain and his anger and split it. I see his loneliness in him. I see his fear in you.” Roy frowned, and Jason leaned forward, took his right hand, tangled his fingers with Roy’s metal ones. He didn’t flinch, didn’t feel a moment of discomfort- but he saw Roy glancing down, looking for a sign of it. “I don’t know what this world is like. I can’t be here long enough to find out- I have a family that needs me. I have a little girl who needs bedtime stories and help with her English homework, and someone to make sure she and her father don’t live on take-out and frozen pizza alone.” A reluctant smile. “But the two of you… to me, this is some sort of dream. This world’s Jason… I imagine he’d need you both. I imagine there isn’t a future unless it has all of you in it.”

 

Roy tried to glance away, but Jason pulled him closer. He leaned in, kissed his cheek softly.

 

“You believe me, somewhere in there,” he whispered, “you both do. You look at me and know it’s right.”

 

“I shouldn’t believe you,” Roy muttered, “hell, you’re _older_ than me… us, and you shouldn’t be. You’re a man who’s dead. But…” he shook his head. “Something in my gut says you’re not lying.”

 

“Always trust that.” Another kiss, now to the bridge of his nose. “You’ve got a smart head, an honest heart but your _gut_ is always right, Roy. Always.”

 

*

 

“It should work,” Roy, the clone, said, fidgeting with the shockingly small machine he was holding. “We use Boomtubes pretty regularly here.”

 

They were standing on a rooftop close to where Jason had originally appeared. It was threatening morning now, that velvet sky lightening ever so slightly.

 

Jason nodded, watching as the clone tapped the screen a few times. Jason’s phone was plugged into it. It had been the original that had said there should be a residue of the frequency, where Jason had shown up. It had only been one night, not even twelve hours- and the clone had been the one to think of using Jason’s phone to help match it, properly. Since Jason’s technology seemed to _know_ where he was wasn’t right.

 

“The portal won’t hold long, so when the tube opens, just go.” Jason nodded, before he leaned in, gently kissed the clone’s lips. Roy pushed closer, and Jason reached up, splayed one hand on his chest.

 

“Hold onto that little girl,” he whispered, “she’s going to grow up fast. But she’s going to be _amazing_.” He turned, reached out for the original, and he offered up his right hand, let Jason take it. Jason pulled him in, gently kissed him to. “I’m out there,” he added, “you’re all going to be okay.”

 

He wouldn’t entertain a world where Roy _wasn’t_ , not in the end. He deserved his final happiness.

 

Jason stood between them for a moment, before the clone was finally hitting the screen again. The machine made a high pitched noise, and suddenly it looked as it time and space was parting, ripping open- and Jason, he headed right for it. But the moment he was touching it, he dared to glance back-

 

And caught two sets of green eyes that looked both sad and full of a new _hope_.

 

*

 

The next thing Jason knew, he was sitting on the cold workshop floor. His ass hurt like he’d fallen from the ceiling, and there was the sound of feet rushing across the room.

 

“Jay, you okay?” Tim, kneeling down and reaching out to steady him, as Roy crouched down, cupping his face.

 

“Baby, hey, look at me.” Roy was tipping Jason’s head, forcing him to stare at him. “Jason, _Jason_.”

 

“I’m… okay.” Jason didn’t move to get up yet, feeling dizzy. He was thankful for Tim helping to hold him up. “Sorry,” he mumbled, and Roy frowned.

 

“For what?”

 

Jason closed his eyes, fighting off a headache. “Shouldn’t have touched anything. Didn’t mean to make you worry, what’s it been? Eight hours?”

 

When he opened his eyes, Roy was frowning. Jason looked from him to Tim, who looked equally confused. “Uh,” Tim offered, “I don’t think we really know what you’re talking about? You just touched the machine and then we heard the crash when you fell. You didn’t go anywhere.”

 

“But I _did_ .” Jason pushed himself up, teetered, and his husband was bouncing up, grabbing him to keep him steady. “That _thing_ sent me to another world. There were two Roys- and I was still dead. Or not around, anyway. And Lian was only nine months old and…” he paused, realized that Roy and Tim were looking at him like he’d just crawled out of the Lazarus Pit. “I’m not crazy,” he said, much calmer, and the two exchanged glances again.

 

“You’re not,” Roy agreed, getting his arm around Jason’s waist and turning him, steering him towards a chair. “I know that baby. But sit down and take a breath. What do you think happened?”

 

Jason sat down with a sigh. He looked down at his hands, flipped them over- and he remembered that scar he didn’t know. Remember metal that was smooth and warm. “I was in another world,” he said, calmer now. “I met you. And your clone. And I wasn’t around. And I…” Jason reached up, rubbed his jaw. “I think I gave them hope.”

 

Roy glanced back over at Tim, but neither were looking at Jason in disbelief. And Jason knew there was more, _much more_ , and that he’d have to explain to Roy having sex with the two men that made him up, in another universe, another time and place…

 

But for now, Jason just wanted to tell himself that it had been for a _reason_ . That the fate he believed in now had thrown him into their lives to help them. That maybe a glimpse of what _this_ Roy had, of a possible future, was what they needed at this point in their life.

 

He covered his mouth, smiling a little- because he _had_ seen hope in their eyes, and he refused to believe it was unfounded.

**Author's Note:**

> (I am not allowed to turn this into a series I am not allowed to turn this into a series I am not allowed to turn this into a series...)


End file.
